Chapter Six

Chapter Six

1

Police were a common concern in these parts. It wasn't as though this part of town was seedy but there were certain individuals who were routinely monitored for some reason or another. According to Brenda they were considered high risk and might commit their crimes again in the future. Patty had thought she heard or read about those people moving into the area but the more she tried to remember the more she forgot. It was as though a news program or paper was not the source of her information at all.

She heard footsteps and as she looked up Thomas emerged. He was tying his robe's belt when he spied her and smiled. He always had a smile to give her and a wink. She wanted to puke sometimes when it accompanied a hug in which she would pull away without returning but on this day there was no hug or attempt at a kiss. He just smiled, winked and proceeded to sit down in a recliner.

She folded her arms and deposited herself on the couch. Then she stood abruptly. No piece of furniture in their apartment was sacred. As she whirled around to look where she sat, she perceived dried semen stains on the cushion and shivered.

"You can sit down," Thomas said huskily. "I won't bite unless you want me to."

There was that wink and a flash of teeth but as soon as Brenda rounded the corner Mr. Nice reappeared and welcomed her into his arms. He hugged her as she sat in his lap and pretended as though she was the only one in the room until Patty cleared her throat to speak.

"I just wanted to come and see if you wanted to go out, Brenda," she said and tried to look anywhere but where they sat. Thomas's robe had slipped and his upper thigh was visible. Another inch or two and something else might poke out.

"Where did you have in mind," Brenda asked. "We are having another gathering tonight. Did you want to attend?"

Another gathering was code for either orgy or Wiccan practices. Patty read her expression sternly. Her eyes were not dark with mischief and the highlight of her cheeks did not deepen. Therefore she must have been referring to practices. Still Patty looked deeper. Her smile was faint, her legs crossed and judging by the shallow rise and fall of her chest she was calm.

"I will be there," Patty answered darkly.

Yes, we will both attend.

Brenda and Thomas seemed to forget each other and what had transpired between them prior to her visit as their attention focused on her. She then knew what was about to be said, or rather lectured.

"What do you have against sex," Thomas asked.

"Not now, Thomas," Brenda intervened, but her question did not provide her with much relief. "Are you going to actually participate this time in our spells?"

Patty chewed her cheek.

Let me show them what I am really made of. Let me show them what a true agent of the black arts can master!

She lifted her face. "Fine," she answered dully.

2

Patty leaned over the steam as it rose from her cup. She wasn't thirsty but thought it a kind gesture to at least accept it as Brenda passed it to her. Her fingers curled around the warm plastic. She watched herself appear in the chocolate and then sink back. She had enough of reflections. She spied Thomas out the corner of her eye. Luckily her hair kept him from staring as he so often did. It hung loosely around her shoulders and curtained her face.  She made an attempt at a sip of the drink. It swished in her mouth before racing down her throat. She paused before setting it back down.

He isn't a threat. Can I squash him like a bug?

When she looked up again Brenda had a towel and was frantically wiping at boiling chocolate overflowing from Patty's cup. It flowed over her hands and trickled onto the floor as it raced across the table. She jerked back. Her eyes settled over the bubbling brew and watched as it slowly began to retreat back into its container. She stood and shook her hands, wiped them on her jacket and tried to think of what to say.

Don't forget poor Stephen!  Ronan laughed.

"Did you burn yourself," Brenda asked and pulled her hands toward her to investigate.

"I am fine," Patty reassured and sat back down.

Brenda's eyes rounded. Her face was pinched, her brows tightly knitted. "They are not even red."

Patty buried her hands into her jacket pockets and frowned. "I guess I was lucky."

Luck had nothing to do with it.

Thomas stood and weaved his arms around Brenda's waist. He kissed her neck and hummed against her throat. Patty narrowed her eyes. Heat flushed him, not only his face but his body too. She felt his temperature rise. It was merely a slight change, but a change regardless. She swallowed the knot in her throat and felt it splash in her stomach. He wanted another spin on the Brenda express and didn't give a s**t if she was there or not. At times she thought he wanted her to watch as though he got some sort of pleasure from it.

"I better be going," Patty started to say but was cut off by Thomas's muffled objection.

"No, Patty, please stay. You just got here," he said into Brenda's hair.

Patty rolled her eyes. "I must really be on my way." She stood and backed toward the door. "I will see you later, Brenda. I figure the same time, same place for the rituals."

Brenda smiled and nodded the best she could as she surrendered to Thomas's hungry kisses. Patty was half way out the door when Thomas's hands slipped inside her robe and he began pawing her. In the hallway she wasted no time closing the door and racing down the steps. On the level floor she stood a moment. A second later Cradle of Filth blared behind her and overhead. It resonated off the walls, ceiling and floor. She cocked her head to one side and proceeded toward the door.

       Those breeding apes might need to be taught a lesson.

       Patty shook her head and then shuffled along the cement pathway toward the parking lot.